Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay, formerly known as Cumberland Bay, is a bay located at the southern end of Cuba. Guantanamo Bay has the largest harbor on the south side of the island, and it is cut off by its hinterland by large hills, separating it from the rest of Cuba. Guantanamo Bay became home to a US Navy base in 1898 after the Spanish-American War, and a 1903 treaty between the United States and Cuba allowed for the USA to continue leasing the harbor; after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the Cuban government claimed that the US presence in Guantanamo was illegal. In 2002, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp ("Gitmo") was opened, and the US military detained and tortured hundreds of suspected terrorists there.